Chemical fire apparatus.



F. H. LANE.

' CHEMICAL FIRE APPARATUS.

umcmon FILED MAR. 21. 1911.

. Inventor:

w Adj 8.

Patented J l me 26, 1917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK H. IANE, OF HOLLIS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-THIRD TO ALFRED S.

MOSES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.. AND ONE-THIRD TO FRANCIS A. WES'I'BBOOK. OF BROOK LYN, NEW YORK.

CHEMICAL FIRE APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 26, 1917.

Application filed latch 27, 1917. Serial No. 157,601.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. LANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hollis, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improveapparatus-and is concerned primarily with ings.

apparatus designed for usein confined or closed ore particularly, the invention is concerned with ap aratus in which carbon tetra-chlorid, hereinafter referred to simply as tetra-chlorid, is employed as the extinguishing agent and the principal object of the invention is to provide means for applying the tetra-chlorid to the blaze in a more economical, effective and less destruc-i tive form than has heretofore been known.

Tetra-chlorid as a fire extinguishing agent has now come into very general use. It is the practice to force the tetra-chlorid in H uid form on to the burning surface and rely on the heat of the blaze to change a substantial portion of the liquid tetrachlorid into a heavy gaseous blanket which will smother the flames. This evaporation occurs to only a limited degree at the seat of the blaze, remaining in liquid form on the surface, so that for every unit volume of extinguishing liquid evaporated at the seat of combustion, many unit volumes of liquid remain unevaporatcd. Since the volume of effective vapor created comes from only a small portion of the discharged liquid, it will be evident that a great quantity of liquid must be thrown toward the blaze. This method is very wasteful. Again, it ,has been found that the application of extinguishing liquids, and particularly tetrachlorid, to mechanical and electrical apparatus generally and to insulation for electric wiring, causes irreparable injury. Since blazes for which chemical fire apparatus is especially suitable are most prevalent about electrical devices, and particularly switch boards, the permanent injury of the equipment by the extinguishing agent becomes a matter of serious moment, especially where the blaze itself is of small consequence. The objections noted to known chemical apparatus are sought to be el mlmted by the had to the accompanying drawing laces, such as the interior of build-' improvements herein, both in the matter of economy and effectiveness inuse without the sacrifice of any of the advantages attendant upon the use of such an agent in liquid form. a

In accordance with the invention the extlnguishing chemical agent, such as liquid carbon tetra-chlorid, is confined in a suitable reservoir and is'forced therefrom under compressed air in the form of a spray through a heating tube in which the vapor is changed into a dry gas, in which form it i he ageflt in gaseous form and at a relatively hlg temperature, greater economy in the is directed to the blaze. By applying use of the agent itself is achieved since the evaporation is completed entirely before-the emission of the gas from the hose nozzle and the enveloping gaseous blanket is directed toward the seat of combustion in a blast so that the blaze is quickly smothered by an inclosing gaseous blanket. Further,

and of great importance when the blaze is near electrical equipment or wiring or other apparatus which might be injured by the action thereon of an extinguishing agent in liquid form, this disintegrating or destructive force of the agent is entirely eliminated by applying the agent in a wholly gaseous form. The invention will be setjorth in greater detail hereinafter in connection with the description of one embodiment thereof illustrated in the drawing and in which there is shown a portable fire apparatus, parts being broken away to show certain details of construction.

Since it'is believed that the present improvements will be of particular importance 1n apparatus designed for use around electrical equipment, the illi'lstrated embodiment .shows suitable portable apparatus which may be used about a building and derive its power either from the supply circuit in the building or from a self contained source. In the drawing the apparatus is shown as mounted on a truck a. which may carry a storage battery 7) to supply current to an electric motor c which is carried on the truck and is connected directly with a blower, the casing of which is indicated by the reference character [1, the blou'cr and motor being shown in a purely conventional form. Where more convcnicut. lhc motor I may derive its power from tho main sup ply 0f the building, a plug connection c ava e socket terminaL' On the truck a is carried an air-tight reservoir f for theliquid extinguishing agent g, which may be carbon tetra-.chlorid, and this reservoir may be lined, as at f, with suitable resistant maervoir by the chemical. The blower dis connected with the upper portion of the reservoir f by a pipe (1, which may be con,- trolled by a suitable hand valve d, whereby compressed air derivedfrom the blowermay be directed upon the surfaoeof the extinguishing agent. From the reservoir f the compressed air may pass through a relatively restricted duct f in which terminates. a nozzle it formed at the upper end of a' ipe h,

the lower endof which is dispose body of the chemical. 'This construction insures the through the ductf in theform of a spray.

discharge of the chemical From this duct f? 'theatomized agent passes through a heating pipe at with which is v be provide -nection, as required, with the battery I).

operatively associated a source of' heat shown in the drawin its end by whic convenient connection may be made with the source of electricity.v In the preferred form of apparatus the motor connections may include a plug 0' from which current may be led to the plug k of the heatin :eoil. Further, the motor may with a separate plug .c 'for con- The heating .coil k just described is prefer ably inclosed by an insulating casing'l to confine the heat. From the heating pipe z" the vaporized chemical in gaseous form 18 discharged through a flexible hose m, made paratus for been descri of any suitable material resistant to carbon I nt. This hose may be fitted with nozzles 0 such construction as to give themost advantageous discharge of the gas according to the conditions of use. a

One practicable, simgle and compact apractising t e invention has now ed and its-purely structural features will be evident. The advance in the art made by the improved ap aratus can best be appreciated by a consi eration' of the. mode'of use of the improved apparatus and a comparison thereof withthe -prin'-' guishingagents', such. .as tetra-chlorid, have been discharged from a nozzle in liquid form ciple onwhich known extinguishing agents have beemapplied. j Heretofore the extinwiti'hlthe imate idea of applying th m pm of suflicient density to smot the blazing surface in liquid form, from" which they would be evaporated by the heat of the blaze and create a vaplorous blanket er the flame.

. The liquid 'thus'applied'to the seat of combustion is always volatilized imperfectly by v the blazeso that the efiective gaseous blanket in the ing' blanket.

ng, as a helical electrical point whereav perfect this-heated condition t e gas is directed on ishing isand its 'neig A further feature of novelty, :in connection with the illustrated embodiment of the invention resides in theprovision of a by-- been small in volume as compared to the total amount of liquid thus applied. Further, the liquid remaining 'unvolatilized has little,

if any, property as an extinguishing agent and so remains on the surface to which it isapterial to prevent dislntegratiomof the resplied as a deleterious chemical agent. Again,

all

carry 011' such defeating to a the gas is formed, to wit, the smothering of the blaze. Where the extinguishing agent is to be applied in gaseous form, as in the present case, this gasmay'be directed to a pomt below the blaze so that as'it is car- .ried upward by the rising currents it is carried directly to -and about the blaze in these knownmethods of extinguishing, the comparatively strong currents of 1 created at the seat of the blaze by the heating of the air at that point .gas as is created, -thereby' great extent the very purpose for which thereby forming the most efiective -smothercurred-in the neighborhood of electric wirr' chemical applied has been found to break down the insulation and perhaps otherwise injure the equipment, with. the result that as around switch-boards or the like, the

Further, where the blaze ocmore damage is often done'by the extinguishing agent than by the blaze itself. By

the present improvements these wasteful and injurious methods of a plying an agent are overcome. The tetra-c loridorother chem ical is completely gasified in the apparatus -..before being discharged" from the nozzle. l

.The agent is first; atomized and, inits va-" 'rous. form, is led through a heating coil 1n "which'..itstemperature is raised to a i to the blaze. "Since the extin s is formed and in accomplished by a smothering o the flame, i

it will be evident that indirecting the chemical in gaseous form on to the blaze, an

envelop will be created much more quickly and economically than would be possible where the gaseous blanket is formed wholly bythe evaporation of the chemical at the. seat of combustion. Further, since noliquid is discharged from the apparatus and only a gaseous blanket is placed about the blaze the destructive eflectsof the chemical by its association with electrical-insulation or other equipment inliquid form is entirely eliminated. The extinguishing gas derived from the mproved apparatus may be di- 1 rected againsta blaze sprin ng from a sur- .face of any character. wit out danger. of". injury to the surface-by the gas itself. I All of the other objectionable-results flowing from the I a2 licationof'liquid to ablaze orhood are also overcome.

pass n from the blower d to the heating pipe manna i by means of which a current of compressed air may be directed thro hthe hose m.

While, as. described herein efore, the extinguishing agent is applied to the blaze in the form of a gas, it will be understood that after the blaze is extinguished and the surfaces to which the gas has been applied cool 011', a certain proportion of the gas will becondensed on such surfaces. The objection to the presence of carbon tetra-chlorid in liquid form on surfacesgenerally and particularly on insulation or other electrical equipment has been pointed out. Accord- 'in'gly, the blast of air derived through the by-pass n is provided so that after the blaze has been extinguished, such a blast may be directed against the surfaces to which the V as extinguishing gas has been directed for the purpose of completely. evaporating any condensed carbontetra-chlorid that may remaiil on said surfaces. This blast of air, it has been found, will accomplishthis evaporation satisfactorily and completely rid insulation" and other electrical equipment to be found around switch-boards of such carbon tetrachlorid as might remain thereon and ingure the same in the manner. now characteristic of other apparatus. A further .use to which this blast may be profitably put 'is for the detecting of latent embers. When the blast 'is-applied to such embers sparks will be brought to life and observable. When the by-pass 'n. is connected withthe heatingtube i, as indicated in the drawing, thisblast may also be used for blowingout any ,condensed carbon-tetra-chlorid remaining in the tube and hose after use of the apparatus so that. such liquid tetrmchloridwill :not subsequently be deposited on; any surfaces.- Such a connection also permits the air to .bedischarged hot or cold, depending upon whether "the coil is is brought into. use or not.

From the description given it will be eviseous state and that rearrange- V parts escribed or theirequiv'alents may be placed in combination in a stationary position. Further, while electricity has been de-' scribed as bein most convenient as a source of power for 't e driving-motorc and for the heatin 'coil 7:, it is to be understood that;

', pletely, a discharge nozzle through whichcompress air may be derived from other sources and heating coils of difierent types maybe employed. The appended claims define the scope of the invent i on. v a

I claim as my invention. I 1. In chemical fire apparatus, extin.

guishing, chemical agent in liqui'd form, an-

air-tight reservoir forsaid agent, a'source of com'premed air, a conduit to lead the com pressed air into said reservoir onto the surfaceof the agent, a discharge nozzle in said reservoir above the surface of the agent, a pipefrom theagent discharging into said nozzle whereby the agent is atomized by the compressed air, a heating tube connected with. said nozzle to gasify the agent completely and a discharge nozzle throughwhich the agent in gaseous form passes to the blaze.

2. In chemical fire apparatus, an extinguishing chemical agent in liquid form, an

" air tight reservoir for. said agent, a blower,

an electric motor to drive the blower, a valve controlled conduit to lead the compressed air from the blower into said reset voir on to the surface of the agent, a dis charge nozzle in said reservoir above the surface of said liquid, a pipe from the agent discharging into said nozzle whereby the.

agent is "atomized by the compressed air, a heating tube connected with said nozzle, an

-electrical heating coil around said tube to heat and gasify the agent completely and a discharge nozzle through which the agent in gaseous form passes to the blaze.

3. In chemical fire apparatus, carbon tetrachlorid in liquid form, an air-tight reservoir for said tetra-chlorid, a blower. an electric charging into said nozzle-whereby the tetrachlorid is atomizedby the compressed air, a heatingtube connected with said nozzle, v the blower, the reservoir and said tube being mounted independently of each other and liquid, a pipe from the tetra-chlorid dis- 5 being formed as-separate units, an electrical heating coil around said tube to heat andgasify the tetraschlori'd completely; and a discharge nozzlethrough which'the tetrachlorid. in -gaseous form 1 passes. to-theblaze;

- 4. In. chemical fire, apparatus, an ext-inguishingchemical agent in liquid form, an air-tlghtfreservoir for-said agent, a source of compressedxair, a conduit to lead the compressed air into said reservoir onto the a pipe from the 1 agent discharging into said nozzle 'wherebyfthe agent ,is atomized by' "the'compressed air, a heating tube connected with said nozzle to 'gasifythe agent'comthe agent in gaseous, form passesto the a surface of-thejagent, a 'discharge nozzle in saidfreservoir" above the surface of the agent, 2'

blaze, and a valve-controlled by-pass from i 5. In chemical fire apparatus, a portable truck, a reservoir .for carbon tetra-chlorid the blower to the heating tube topermit the discharge of a blast of air.

in liquid form carried on the truck, a blower, an electric motor to drive the blower, a. valve controlled connection between the blower and thereservoir to lead tlfi compressed -'r said reservoir oftte. the surface of e 'ibon tetre-chloridQ awstorege battery carried on the truck, electrieel connectionsl'aetmbtn the mofiir ani'l mornge battery and between the motor en ex ternal source of current, e di f nozzle in the mo'servoir above the of the tetra-clitorid a tube from the tetra-chlorid to said ioz-tle 'whnehy the compressed air forces the tetra-chlorid through the nozzle in atomized form, a, heating tube connected with said nozzle'and carried on the truck, an electrical heating coil disposed about said tube and having connection with any available source of-ciment'; a discharge nozzle for the tetre-chlorid gesified in the heating tube, and a valve-controlled by-pass between the heating tube and the blower whereby a blast of air may be discharged. This specification signed this 22d day of March, A. D. 1917. FREDERICK H. LANE. 

